Fic: Souls, Slayers... and a Scythe???
Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.
Summary: Set two weeks after the events in Explaining Africa 3
Authors Notes: I have no clue about Africa. Which is probably always a good place to start writing a story. So if details I've used for place names, and tribal names and whatever are wrong then just (correctly) assume I have no idea what I'm doing.
Rating: 15 by English standards (mainly for language)
Chapter 7b:
To say he was shocked was an understatement. That had possibly been the strangest couple of seconds of his life, 'And considering the life I've had, that's saying something.' he figured.
He'd gone from being forcibly removed from the cave, which had been a scary event in itself, to flying through the air, to landing heavily on the ground, to being attacked by said ground, to reliving a very scary memory with Faith, to staring at two of the most perfect things he'd ever seen.
The whole event had probably taken less than three seconds.
He was still laying there on the ground. Faith had only just placed her t-shirt back down. 'Thank god...' he thought to himself, 'I know it's been a while; but I was very tempted to sit up and just... if this is what Samson's been hinting at I'm going to kill him.'
He focused on Faith's eyes. They were searching his. Unsure what she was looking for, he continued to lay there. Neither breaking eye-contact with the other.
Then it occured to him, 'Jeez, you fool, if you had the flash of memory when she sat on you then what the hell did you think she'd be going through.' Now he realised what he could see in Faith's eyes, regret. And with that came the realisation that she was obviously looking for forgiveness in his.
He wasn't sure if he'd provided it, he was pretty sure his mental processes had gone directly from shocked to possible lust. Maybe a slight diversion towards fear, but he wasn't sure if he actually reached that point.
Still, they were in the same position just staring at each other. Something a few days ago, he'd never thought was even possible. Faith was sitting on his groin and he wasn't scared; a quick mental check confirmed he wasn't aroused either, 'God knows how I fluked that one'. Eventually he released a smile. She smiled back, but didn't move.
Maybe forgiveness hadn't reached his eyes. But understanding definitely had, and it looked like trust could be re-established. After what felt like an eternity, she nodded and stood up. Offering a hand out to help him up. Xander took it.
After standing up he was shocked to realise it was daylight out. 'Was I really in there that long?'
He turned to face the cave entrance, examining it for the first time in the light. There was nothing there. "Then how did I get out?" he thought aloud.
Faith must have thought it was a question as she answered. "Samson explained that you can leave during the day, but cannot enter. You didn't provide further info than that, cos we were on the side that was stuck."
And that was it, he realised. The first sentence from each of them in about five minutes. Nothing about what had happened, nothing about their pasts, just plain old back to business. 'Maybe Samson's been wrong,' he thought. 'Maybe they had just grown too far apart... maybe too much had gone on between them.' But for the first time since she'd arrived, he felt a little regret at the thought. When Samson had hinted at Faith being one of the people from his reading, he'd initially latched onto those thoughts... they were what had given him the strength to go on. Now he just felt guilty for ever having them.
'Willow tried to destroy the entire fucking world. And I forgave her easily enough...' But with Faith it had been different, too personal for his tastes. 'The world's too big, it's too broad a concept. Hell we get people... things.. trying to destroy the world or the whole of reality every year. I've never really hated them, just hoped they failed and we kicked their ass is all.' But Faith concentrated on people. 'Poisoning Angel, trying to frame Buffy, almost strangling me. That's the difference,' he realised. 'For Willow, personal worked in her favour... I saved the world by knowing her... for being with her since the start of school. Maybe it was because there was never a negative personal part to Willow's deal... well apart from Warren anyway, but that bastard had it coming.'
Over the bridge of his nose, seemingly in the corner of his eye, he could see Faith looking at him. He hadn't realised it, but he'd been staring at the cliff face the whole time, and she'd remained in just in his line of vision, but over to the left. Most people tried to stand on his right if they remembered. She'd stood to his left. Slightly foward so she was in sight, but there to cover his blindspot should it be necessary. 'When the hell did she realise to do that?' He thought, turning his head slightly towards her.
She must have taken his movement to be the end of the silence. "So... did you get your wish?" she asked. 'Was that regret in her voice? At having the perfect opportunity to get some skeletons out into the open, but missing the chance to do so.' He knew those thoughts had been on his mind.
Smiling at her in an attempt to ease her suffering he added, "Didn't make a wish..." She smiled, one of the first genuine smiles he'd seen since she'd arrived in Africa. He couldn't fathom the reason behind that one, but he returned it none-the-less.
They headed towards the car and he started it. Noticing some discomfort still in her, he found himself asking, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." she responded.
'And that was it,' he figured. 'Missed chances...' he promised himself he would try to talk to her about this at some point, but honestly couldn't see how it would ever come up again.
Deciding he had nothing to lose he tried to palm it off as a joke, "You know Faith... I think you should adopt that diversionary tactic anytime you think I might react badly to something you'll do... or say. You could also use it on special occasions; like birthdays, public holidays, ermm... Tuesdays... breakfast... any special occasions like those."
Faith couldn't stop the grin. "They're just tits, Xan... you've seen them before." But she didn't remove the smile all the way to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, Xander was facing a grilling.
"I can't believe you went off on your own." Amy shouted at him.
"It was something I felt I had to do."
"Soo... what was the wish?" Roger asked.
"There was no wish."
"How can there be no wish?" Amy was confused, "Samson and that other guy reckoned that in order for you to close the cave off, you had to make a wish."
"I closed the cave off?"
"Never mind that." Faith told him, "Tell us what happened."
"Well..." Xander began, "I'd just woken up from a nightmare..."
&&& Flashback &&&
Xander parked his jeep on the beach. 'I know it's around here somewhere.' He thought to himself, using the torchlight to illuminate the various cliff faces. 'No. No. No.'
In the distance, some tents materialised into view. Xander noticed them, and the people heading over. 'You're not gonna stop me going in.'
He quickened his search. Beginning to run now, parallel to the cliff face, away from the approaching tribe. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of it. Part of the rock face had been illuminated by the torch, and suddenly just for a split second it'd gone dark... like the torchlight wasn't able to reach the rear wall of the cave.
He stopped still, backing up a few paces to where he thought he'd been. He began scanning the wall again. He knew it was all about the angle. Scan... wall, wall, wall... nothing, step left. Scan... wall, wall, wall... nothing, step left. And so on... until suddenly. Scan... wall, wall, darkness. 'Success.'
Xander ran towards it, glancing behind, the tribe members were still only walking towards him. Entering the tunnel, feeling his way along the side, the torch light aimed solely at the floor in front of his feet. He stopped and turned around. The tribesmen had stopped at the entrance to the tunnel. But none entered.
They were staring at each other from a distance of maybe forty feet. All Xander could see were some silhouettes against the entrance. He doubted they'd be able to see anything more than the lit patch of ground beneath him.
Confident they weren't going to follow he continued to walk further into the tunnel. When he could no longer see the entrance, he stopped. It was still quite a way to the cavern. 'Do I even need to go that far?' he thought to himself.
Deciding to risk it, he took a final look around. "I wish that..." he said out loud.
&&& End of flashback &&&
"So you did make a wish..." Amy interrupted the story.
"I'm coming to that." Xander replied. Getting himself a drink, he continued on. "As soon as I said the words aloud, there was a flash of light, and..."
&&& Flashback &&&
The flash of light had blinded him slightly, once his eyes cleared and he got used to the gloom he realised he was no longer in the tunnel. Or any part of the cavern he recognised.
Moving for his torch to get a better view he realised it was no longer with him. 'Dammit... would have made a half decent weapon too...'
He also realised he was barefoot and was no longer wearing his shirt. 'Let battle commence then?' Trying to make anything out in the darkness, he becomes aware of a figure standing in the corner, it seems huge.
"Okay... you're a big boy." Xander raises his fists to a fighting position, circling the shadowy figure carefully. The creature continues to stand there. Xander got a little closer. Trying to focus on the creature's limbs, he made a few tentative moves towards it. 'Come on you bastard...'
He lashed out with a kick to the creature's own leg. It moved slightly, but seemed to ignore it. Backing up, he almost tripped on a loose rock. Moving it into position with his feet. He kept his full attention on the creature in front of him. Bending down, in one fluid motion, he picked up the rock and tossed it baseball style directly at the creatures head. It made a solid sound as it bounced off, forcing the creatures head to be knocked back.
"Shit.." he muttered to himself, "this is one sturdy mother fucker."
The creatures eyes lit up. Xander moved himself out of the line of sight. 'I fucking knew it... I knew one day we'd run into something that can shoot lasers and shit.'
"Human..." The deep voice echoed in the cave.
"Ermmm... yep, I guess that's me then." Xander replied.
"HuuuMannn!!!" It repeated louder.
'Nice one Xan... you pissed it off.'
"Your wish..."
"My wish..?" Xander asked, "Oh yeah, my wish... right... I realise it might not be the most regular of wishes... in fact, I admit it, it's kinda lame... so maybe it's not worth a challenge from this level of demon... get me a regular demon... a vampire... tell you what... one vamp and a me with a stake... that's fair, right?"
"I will not grant that wish."
Now Xander was pissed, "Hey, you can't put me in here, fighting to death against this thing, if you're not going to grant me a wish."
"Your opponent has been decided."
"Yeah and he's a big bastard too."
"Your opponent has not yet entered the arena."
"Ahhhh.... so that's you?"
"Correct."
"And you're not my opponent."
"Correct."
"Can I have my rock back?"
&&& End of flashback &&&
Xander paused and waited patiently.
Faith was still laughing. "You..." more laughing, "You..." Now she was holding her sides. "Only you could attack the wrong demon." She fell off her chair.
'This is going to go on for hours...' Xander thought to himself.
"Well... if everyone's recovered from the apparent hilarity," he stared directly at Faith, who was now giggling silently to herself. "Shall I continue?"
Faith nodded, wiping tears from her eyes.
&&& Flashback &&&
Some flaming torches seem to appear from nowhere. Xander noticed he himself was well illuminated, but the creature was still in darkness. All that could be seen was the glowing of it's eyes.
"What about your eye?" The demon suggested.
"That wasn't what I wished for." Xander argued. 'And I'm getting used to it now. Willow told me that to replace anything like that using magic would be very dangerous. If I didn't trust her to do it safely, then I'm definitely not letting something I don't know play with my anatomy.'
"The woman could be returned."
"Which wo...." Xander realised, 'Anya, my Anya... I couldn't do that to her. Definitely if I don't know the rules behind her return.' "Nope... not buying... last time we brought someone back from the dead, there was a lot of badness... we're trying to cut down... really."
"There is..."
Xander cut the demon off. "Look all I wish to know is, what are the rules behind Spike retaining his soul?"
"That I cannot tell you."
"Come on... I already know, it gets revoked when you die... and about that... the 'all wishes will be cancelled' thing... do they simply stop all still active wishes; such as Spike's soul and the tribes nighttime curse thing... or does it go back so that none of the wishes were ever made? We were kinda curious about that."
The demon simply stared back.
"Okay... you don't have to answer that one. But the Spike's soul thing..? That one's important to me... a lot of my friends could be hurt."
"I will not tell you."
"So you said... but we heard that sometimes you play tricks on people... twisting their words as so on... all I nee..."
"No!!!" The demon bellowed.
"Okay... firstly... loud. Secondly, was that 'No' an answer or a refusal to answer?"
"You must make another wish."
"I don't have to must anything. You're refusing my wish... what if I don't want to make another wish? I didn't date an ex-vengeance demon for three years without learning something you know."
"Make a wish..."
"No."
"Make a wish."
"I already did."
"Make a wish."
Xander grabbed one of the flaming torches and waved it right under the demon's nose. It's features finally becoming visible. "So what happens if I just kill you know? Does Spike lose his soul or does it get re-written that he never had it? Let's see... Option 1: Spike loses his soul now, he's over at W&H. Angel takes care of it. ... Option 2: Spike never got his soul; bit more complicated, seems to be two major likelihoods; either he doesn't come back to Sunnydale ever, or he does but he's still just a demon and he'd still have a working chip... even if Buffy did trust him, for some completely stupid reason, the second his chip starts to play up and he hasn't got a soul... then he's just like any other vamp... dust."
The demon stared back.
"You see all of those options kinda appeal to me... so my only real worry is the other wishes you have going." Xander stepped back down.
"You cannot kill me."
"Maybe not, but I'm gonna have fun trying... and once I'm done, one of us will be dead. But even if it's me... the people coming to avenge my death... seriously powerful witch and like an army of slayers. So sure they can't kill you?"
"Either leave or make another wish."
"Ohhh... giving me options now, eh? Must be getting to you. Don't worry about it, I used to annoy everyone, was kinda an achievement of mine during high school. Like a gift I had, or something. Tell you what... since I'm feeling generous and I only know of two wishes you've made. How about you let those people go?"
"Which people?"
"The one's on the beach... the nighttime ones. Let them go and I'll let you live."
"You cannot kill me... and you're willing to risk killing me, after I release them from the wish. As if they're not affected by my death the only other thing you know will change is the vampire."
"So you see through my plan... how about you let them go and never let me in here again. That good enough for you?"
"You will send others."
"No I won't... promise."
"I cannot let them go... their release has been foretold."
"Dammit!!! Why is it so much of my life involves fucking prophecies."
&&& End of flashback &&&
"And..?" Roger asked?
"And what?"
"What happened next?"
"We continued arguing, the demon refused to grant either wish... that basically was it, til he kicked me out."
"So we're back to square one?" Roger muttered unhappily.
"Not really... I was thinking of asking Faith to go in... she knows what to wish for now... she's probably got the best bet of killing it..."
"Too right." Faith responded.
"You sure that's the best plan?" Amy mused.
"Got any others?" Xander asked.
"As you said, Willow could try and control it... force it into telling us Spike's rules and releasing the people." Faith thought aloud.
"You're resisting going for a spot of demon killing?" Xander asked incredulously.
"Like you said, if it was just Spike... hell, if it was just Spike and the tribe I'd risk it... I'd ask them their opinions as it would be their lives at risk, but if they agreed I'd be prepared to do it... but... what about all the other wishes... what sort of world could we create..? I can't risk doing that sort of damage."
Amy had been silent through all this. "You said you saw the demon..?"
"Ermm... yes..."
"No one's seen the demon up close."
"That's not my fault."
"No... they challenged their opponents to get their wish. Your wish wasn't being considered, so you were challenging the demon directly."
"And..?" Roger asked.
"Draw it."
"I'm no goo..."
"Describe it to me..."
"Why..?"
"If we know what sort of demon it is, we'll know how best to deal with it, if we choose to go in again."
"If we choose to go in..." Faith corrected. "I don't think Xander's gonna be invited again."
"Har har har..."
"Banned from a demon lair Xan... surely that's a new low." Faith teased.
"Faith drop it."
"Hang on..." Roger joined in, "If he can't get back in without an invitation... doesn't that make him like a vampire?"
"Huumph." Xander said, biting his tongue from providing any retaliation. "So Amy... let's go work on identifying the demon."
As he left the room, Faith and Roger high-fived one another.
End chapter 7b